After confirming his journey to the west, Zhou Jun began to arrange a series of affairs in Liangzhou City before departure.
The first is the reason for traveling westward on official business.
As the governor of Dai Wuwei County, Zhou Jun was not allowed to leave Liangzhou City without permission from the imperial court. If he made any changes, Yan Guan could report him for leaving his post without permission.
However, due to the additional status of a mutual market supervisor, Zhou Jun must go to many mutual market points in Hexi every year to inspect and survey, record and report market conditions. This job is given to
He had a perfect reason to leave Liangzhou City and go to the states in the Western Regions.
Next comes the arrangement of the workshop.
The tea house's output of fried tea this year has exceeded 100,000 jins, but for various tribes in Mobei, the supply is still in short supply.
In addition to common money and silk, the most common exchange items used by various tribes in Mobei to exchange fried tea were horses.
Thousands of fine war horses were traded from various tribes in Mobei to Zhou Jun's name.
With so many horses traded from the mutual market in a short period of time, Zhou Jun had a headache at first.
Later, fortunately, the Jin family already had a horse farm. The guards of the Jin family were all veterans of the Tang army, and their skills in raising horses had never fallen behind. Taking care of these thousands of horses was not a difficult task for them.
As for the Hualou machine, although the drawings were available and the master craftsmen Mao Shun and Peng Po worked together to develop it, some of the key ingenuities were still difficult to overcome technical barriers, so it was still impossible to build a prototype in a short time.
Next is the arrangement of the Governor's Mansion.
As a staff member, Kong You was in charge of the governor's seal when Zhou Jun was away.
He arranged everything in an orderly manner, and no mistakes were found in the city, so the officials in the government were convinced by him.
Before Zhou Jun left for the west, in addition to the daily affairs of the Governor's Mansion, he also entrusted Kong You with several other matters.
First, actively prepare the Yinglong Heavenly Book, and act as an intermediary between the Classics and Zoroastrianism, arranging the next publicity of the Yinglong Heavenly Book in all states in the Tang Dynasty;
Second, pay attention to the trends of the court. If there is a move against Beifan and Liangzhou, you should take preservation as your top priority and avoid danger as soon as possible;
Third, expand Baiting, the mutual trading point between Liangzhou and Mobei, continue to have good relations with the Huihe tribe, and pay close attention to the physical condition of Guli Peiluo Khan.
Finally, there is the arrangement of the westbound personnel.
The Jin family accepted the long-term deed of the Anxi Protectorate, and this time they sent half of the family's best men as guards, a total of more than 300 people.
Zhou Jun brought Qiu Yong and a group of tribes, as well as the guards of the Dudu Mansion, while Hedari and the Huihe guards stayed in the Jin family to take care of them.
The Zoroastrian saint Tuoba Huaisu, along with twelve Zoroastrian masters, followed the westbound team to Guazhou.
Therefore, including the guards, servants, troops, etc., the entire westbound team, totaling everyone, approximately exceeds 600 people. This size is considered rare among caravans heading to the Western Regions.
One day before leaving, Li Guangbi and An Sishun got the news and held a banquet for Zhou Jun in the wine shop.
When the banquet began, as usual, the curtains were closed and no one was allowed to enter.
Li Guangbi lowered his voice and said to Zhou Jun: "There is a letter in the capital. The saint wants to issue an order to order the Northern Fan to send troops to capture Shibao City."
An Sishun also said on the side: "Erlang said at the beginning that the imperial court wanted to weaken the Northern Fan, and first used borrowed troops to test the situation, and then used attacks to reduce the momentum. Now it has come true."
Zhou Jun: "How many Tibetan defenders are there in Shibao City now?"
Li Guangbi: "There are less than a thousand people, but Shibao City is fully equipped with food, wood, rolling stones, and arrows. The entrance to the city is narrow, and it is the terrain of the Rengu Valley, which can only accommodate a small number of soldiers and horses. Behind the city is flat land, and there is a road.
, the enemy’s reinforcements can come up easily.”
An Sishun: "Not only that, there are already 462,400 soldiers in Tubo's Si Ru. In addition, there are ten Dongdai in Tubo's Supi, eleven Dongdai in Tongchi, and Xiangxiong's
Ten Dongdai, plus Bailanqiang, the population and soldiers of Tuyuhun. Once the battle of Shibao City really starts, the Tang Dynasty may have to face a Tubo army of more than 500,000."
Li Guangbi: "Shibao City is located in Huangyuan County in the southwest. It towers into the clouds. Every autumn, the air is even thinner. Compared with the Tibetan soldiers, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty are less able to tolerate high altitudes. Therefore, from this point of view, it is more important to attack Shibao City.
The Tang Dynasty lost the right time, location, and harmony, and it was really a disaster but a disaster."
After listening to this, Zhou Jun said: "If we go by what you said, this battle in Stone Castle City must not be fought."
Li Guangbi and An Sishun looked at each other, and they were silent together.
After a while, Li Guangbi gritted his teeth and said, "If we fight this battle, I'm afraid there will be heavy casualties."
An Sishun said while drinking wine: "If we don't fight, we will lose our temper and make the Northern Fan lose its trust in the court."
Li Guangbi slammed the table: "Then we can't just watch the sons die!"
An Sishun sighed.
Li Guangbi said to himself there: "Wang Duhu is writing a memorial and plans to write to the court to explain the pros and cons of the battle at Shibao City and persuade the saint to give up his thoughts."
An Sishun glanced at Li Guangbi, but kept drinking and stopped talking.
When Zhou Jun saw this, he also understood that most of the people in Northern Fan, whether it was the royal guards or the soldiers below, still did not understand their situation.
In their view, the Northern Fan was loyal to the imperial court. If they clarified their interests and showed their loyalty, they would be as wise as the emperor, and they would naturally be able to distinguish right from wrong.
On the contrary, those barbarian generals with Sogdian origins had seen a lot of intrigues and intrigues in the shopping malls, and they had a more thorough understanding of the relationship between the imperial court and the Northern Fandom than the generals from the Central Plains.
Li Guangbi drank a few more glasses of wine and said to Zhou Jun: "Wang Duhu heard that Erlang was going to Hexi to patrol the city, so he specially mobilized a team of elite soldiers to guard you."
Zhou Jun heard this and wanted to refuse.
Li Guangbi clapped his hands and said to the door: "Come in quickly!"
A young general wearing Tangshan cultural armor walked into the room with a smile.
Zhou Jun took a few glances and found that the other person was an acquaintance.
It was Sun Aying, a soldier of the Tang Dynasty, who had been with him when he was on an envoy to Uighur.
Looking at the armor Sun Aying was wearing and the Xun ornaments around his waist, Zhou Jun asked with a smile: "Promoted?"
Sun Aying touched his head in embarrassment.
Li Guangbi smiled and said: "As the saying goes, scholars should treat each other with admiration after three days apart. This Sun Aying has read many books and led troops to achieve several great achievements. He was promoted here at a young age, so he can be a personal soldier for Erlang.
"
When Zhou Jun heard this, he didn't refuse anymore. He couldn't help but nodded and said: "Since the general said so, then just stay with me."
Sun Aying cupped his fists and promised Zhou Jun.
At this point, under the instruction of Wang Zhongsi, Sun Aying led the elite Tang soldiers from the two brigades of Shuofang Army, totaling a hundred cavalry, as Zhou Jun's personal soldiers, and joined the team heading west.
After everything was ready, Zhou Jun led this mighty team, starting from Liangzhou City, following the ancient Silk Road, all the way west, passing Ganzhou, passing through Suzhou, and finally came to Yumen Pass